England won't change positive mindset despite top order implosion in Adelaide
An early collapse set the table for Australia to record their first win of the series
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Your support makes all the difference.There was something of a difference of opinion about how much conditions played a part in Australia’s three-wicket victory in Adelaide.
England’s early implosion, which left them eight for five, was the result of brilliant bowling or unusually bowler-friendly pitch and atmospherics, depending on whether you were wearing canary yellow or navy blue. The truth, as ever, lay somewhere in between.
Pat Cummins, whose career-best figures of four for 24 brought him the man-of-the-match award, said: “I thought it was a good wicket. It’s been pretty similar here in the last couple of years with good bounce. It was one of those days they just happened to nick them.”
England captain Eoin Morgan, with a wry smile, described Cummins’ comments as “interesting”.
There had been unscheduled rain in the morning and the game started under cloud cover with moisture in the air and in the surface.
Morgan continued: “We’ve never been eight for five. I thought they bowled really, really well and the ball did move around. That rarely happens in a one-day international for so long. Finding a balance for us was tricky. I thought a couple of the guys got really good balls.”
Chris Woakes, whose 78 continued his excellent form with the bat in the series, considered the toss “fairly crucial”.
Morgan acknowledged that England, who were 20 for six at Lord’s against South Africa last summer, need to be quicker and more expert at assessing conditions but he has no intention of shackling his attacking batsmen.
He said: “We just need to get better at playing better balls. We don’t to lose our positive mindset. It is a balancing act. We don’t want to wipe ten overs out of the game. We still want to move the game forward – I’d rather be 40 for two rather than 20 for none.”
The series stands at 3-1 to England with the final match at the brand-new Optus Stadium in Perth to come on Sunday.
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